Tropical Storm and Flood in Florida, September 14 to 15, 2001

Name: Tropical Storm and Flood in Florida, September 14 to 15, 2001
Start: 2001-09-14T05:52
End: 2001-09-15T13:00
Location: Florida

September 14 to 15, 2001 · NWS MLB · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $5.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MLB wrote it up.

Tropical Storm warnings were issued for the east central Florida coast as Tropical Storm Gabrielle moved northeast from near Sarasota to just north of Cape Canaveral. Sustained tropical storm force winds were felt along the north coast of Brevard County and along much of the Volusia County coast. Storm tides reached about two feet above normal and produced significant beach erosion in Brevard and Volusia counties. Wind gusts to around 45 mph produced minor damage across much of east central Florida. About 60 thousand customers were without electrical power in Volusia and Brevard counties after the storm. A 15 year old boy drowned while playing with friends in Gee Creek near Winter Springs. The boy was pulled under branches and other fast-moving debris.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 14, 5:20 AM EST, 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 14, 5:20 AM EST, 32 minutes before

EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
620 AM EDT FRI SEP 14 2001

BASED ON CURRENT RADAR TRENDS AND NHC TRACK...HAVE GONE WITH AN
INLAND TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING FOR INTERIOR COUNTIES.
ALSO...TORNADO WATCH AND TROPICAL STORM WARNING HAVE BEEN POSTED.

.MLB...TROPICAL STORM WARNING VOLUSIA...BREVARD...INDIAN RIVER...
       ST LUCIE AND MARTIN COUNTIES.
    ...SMALL CRAFT SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT PORT - FLAGLER BEACH TO
       JUPITER INLET.
    ...FLOOD WATCH ALL ZONES THROUGH SATURDAY.
    ...TORNADO WATCH ALL ZONES UNTIL 11 AM...
    ...INLAND TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR
       INLAND VOLUSIA...SEMINOLE...LAKE...ORANGE AND OKEECHOBEE
       COUNTIES...

***************************************************************

...TROPICAL STORM GABRIELLE HEADED TOWARD CENTRAL FLORIDA...
...SIGNIFICANT FLOODING POSSIBLE...

GABRIELLE CONTINUES TO CHURN IN THE SOUTHEAST GULF OF MEXICO...
MOVING TOWARD THE ENE. AT THIS RATE...IT SHOULD MOVE ONSHORE THE SW
FLORIDA COAST TODAY....ACROSS THE PENINSULA TONIGHT...AND EMERGE OFF
THE EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA COAST SATURDAY. DEEP SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST
FLOW ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE STORM WILL CONTINUE TO ADVECT DEEP
TROPICAL MOISTURE ACROSS THE REGION. PRIMARY CONCERN IS FOR
SIGNIFICANT FLOODING TO DEVELOP...WITH SEVERAL MORE INCHES OF RAIN
EXPECTED THROUGH SATURDAY ONTO ALREADY SATURATED GROUND.

WILL LIKELY NEED TO INCLUDE INLAND TROPICAL STORM WIND WATCH FOR
INTERIOR COUNTIES TONIGHT...GIVEN THE NHC TRACK. WILL WAIT FOR 4 AM
CONF CALL BEFORE OFFICIALLY ISSUING IT. INCREASING SOUTH TO
SOUTHEAST WINDS EXPECTED TO CREATE A STRONG LONGSHORE CURRENT AT THE
COAST...PRODUCING BEACH EROSION...AND PILE WATER AGAINST SOUTH
FACING STRUCTURES IN THE INTRACOASTAL WATERS. GREATEST THREAT FOR
EROSION AND MINOR COASTAL FLOODING WILL BE NORTH OF THE STORM
TRACK...ESP VOLUSIA COUNTY WHERE ONSHORE FLOW (MORE PERPENDICULAR TO
THE COAST) WILL BE PROLONGED. DEPENDING ON THE EXACT TRACK OF
GABRIELLE...BREVARD COUNTY MAY BE AT RISK AS WELL.

AVN IS DEEPEST AND SLOWEST WITH TC GABRIELLE...BUT CURRENT RADAR
TRENDS INDICATE THE ETA/NGM HAVE A BETTER HANDLE ON MOVEMENT. ONCE
THE SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE ATLC...SOME TROUGHINESS MAY LINGER BACK
ACROSS THE PENINSULA...BUT RAIN COVERAGE WILL BE REDUCED. SO PLAN TO
LOWER POPS FOR SAT...THOUGH KEEP THEM IN THE LIKELY CATEGORY. IT IS
NOT UNCOMMON TO HAVE A LOCAL EXCESSIVE RAIN EVENT IN THE WAKE OF A
DEPARTING TROPICAL CYCLONE. MUCH DRIER AIR IS PROGGED TO OVERSPREAD
THE AREA SUN. SO WILL LOWER POPS ACROSS THE BOARD TO 30%. PRESSURE
GRAD BETWEEN TC GABRIELLE AND SFC HIGH TO THE NORTH WILL PRODUCE
BREEZY CONDITIONS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. FOR NEXT WEEK...APPEARS A
PROLONGED PERIOD OF ONSHORE FLOW EXPECTED WITH DRY AIR MASS
GRADUALLY MODIFYING.

MARINE...WINDS INCREASING TO TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH BY SAT AS TC
GABRIELLE APPROACHES. MAY NEED TO KEEP SOME HEADLINES BEHIND THE
STORM...ESP NORTH LEG...AS PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN HIGH TO THE
NORTH AND GABRIELLE WILL KEEP WINDS UP.

COORDINATED WITH TPC.

DAB RW 080/074 082/073 083 +963
MCO RW 081/073 085/073 087 +763
MLB RW 082/075 085/075 086 +663

.MLB...TROPICAL STORM WATCH VOLUSIA...BREVARD...INDIAN RIVER...
          ST LUCIE AND MARTIN COUNTIES.
       SMALL CRAFT SHOULD NOT VENTURE FAR FROM PORT - FLAGLER BEACH
          TO JUPITER INLET.
       FLOOD WATCH - ALL ZONES THROUGH SATURDAY.

PUBLIC/MARINE...KELLY
AVIATION/FIRE WX...BLOTTMAN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 14, 5:42 AM EST, 10 minutes before

AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147-
141050-

EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
642 AM EDT FRI SEP 14 2001

FOR DETAILED INFORMATION REGARDING WEATHER HAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITH
TROPICAL STORM GABRIELLE AND THE EXPECTED IMPACTS TO EAST CENTRAL
FLORIDA...REFER TO THE LATEST HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT.

PRODUCT: MIAHLSMLB

KELLY

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 tropical storm, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Tropical Storm, Volusia

When: September 14, 5:52 AM EST
Where: Volusia forecast zone
Property damage: $2.0 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 29.063, -81.149 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Tropical Storm, Brevard

When: September 14, 9:21 AM EST
Where: Brevard forecast zone
Property damage: $3.0 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY

Flood, Seminole

When: September 15, 1:00 PM EST
Where: Seminole County, Winter Spgs
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 28.717, -81.236 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Flood, Seminole	2001-09-15	15	Male	In Water	Direct

What these are

Tropical Storm: A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph).
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Florida in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, September 2001 The 2001 hurricane season

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5268056, 5268057, 5268058.